网络对谣言的自我净化:可能及影响要素——对人民网研究院调查结果的一项检验与补充

Network's Influences on Rumor's Self-purification: Possibilities and Acting Factors —A Supplement and Examination to the Reports by Research Institute of People Net

网络既可能是谣言的温床,同时也是辟谣的有效工具,单纯地把网络当成谣言的"罪魁祸首"或把之誉为谣言的"自我净化器",都有失偏颇,本质上是一种"媒介决定论"思维。人民网研究院一项调查报告显示:针对不同类型的谣言,网络的自我净化能力不同,科普类谣言自我净化能力最强,涉官、涉警、涉富之类的谣言往往是越讨论越极端;涉及公共安全类的谣言,网络是否具有自我净化能力,有赖于诸多外部条件,因而属于"可控型谣言"。从几则"可控型谣言"案例分析后发现,如果谣言漏洞能够在第一时间被指出,政府能及时提供权威的信息,大众媒体、意见领袖、当事人等提供多元化的信息渠道,网络的自我净化功能有可能实现。

The network can be a hotbed of rumors, but also can be a powerful tool for dispelling rumors. Either treating internet as the chief cause of rumor or a sharp weapon for rumor self-purification is a poor description of internet's influences on rumor, which essentially, is 'Media Determinism'. According to a investigation report by the research institute of People Net: various types of rumor do not have the same ability of self-purification online. Rumor about science can purify itself very well, while people discussing rumors about the rich, the police and government officials online tend to hold extreme views; rumor involving public security could be 'controllable rumor',and whether it can get self-purified relies heavily on numerous external conditions. Analysis of several 'controllable rumors'reveals that if the vulnerability of a rumor can be sensed right after its spreading, and furthermore, if the government can offer authoritative information, after which the media, opinion leaders and the party provide diversified sources of information, the function of internet's self-purification can get started, and the ability of internet's self-purification can be turned into reality.